St. John's couldn't have gotten off to a worse start in Saturday's rivalry game against St. Thomas. On the Johnnies' third play, sure-armed quarterback Jackson Erdmann threw a rare interception. Their second drive fizzled just as quickly, ending in a punt after losing 3 yards on three plays.
"It was less than ideal,'' Erdmann said of the 14-0 hole the Johnnies fell into at Allianz Field. "It was tough. But we knew we were good, and we knew we were going to come out and just do our stuff once we started clicking. And we did.''
That stuff — built on Erdmann's arm, Kai Barber's legs and a fired-up defense — propelled the No. 4 Johnnies to a 38-20 victory over St. Thomas. St. John's (6-0, 5-0 MIAC) held the Tommies to six points over the final 48 minutes, 23 seconds, wresting control of the game to win for the second year in a row.
Erdmann found his footing on the grass of St. Paul's soccer stadium, throwing for 456 yards and three touchdowns. Barber ran for 80 yards and two scores, and the Johnnies defense limited the Tommies (4-2, 3-1) to 171 total yards in the second half.
Before a crowd announced at 19,508, St. Thomas raced to a two-touchdown lead in the game's first 11:37. The purple-clad fans in the end zone — many of whom wore soccer scarves in school colors, in a nod to the sport usually played at Allianz — sang and danced like a futbol cheering section on a bright, 65-degree day.
All that good cheer eventually drifted to the other end of the stadium, the one filled with red. The Johnnies now have won 22 consecutive regular-season games and 19 in a row in MIAC play.
"A typical St. John's-St. Thomas game,'' Johnnies coach Gary Fasching said. "They jumped out to that early lead, but I'm so proud of our guys. They stuck with it.
"We talked all week about our game plan and what we wanted to do, and we never veered from that. These guys just did a great job of hanging in there. Our defense was really stout, in that second half especially.''
